“Fresbo World is a socially orientated online world like most others, offering a customizable avatar, a home to decorate and areas in which players can meet and socialize. Players can also arrange events and auction unwanted items, and games are available to play. The world has also been designed to allow users the ability to embed the client on social network pages.”

I guess this was kind of a weird online world to look at, considering its total membership must be in the low thousands. But then why not? It’s an underdog, and I love an underdog!

“There is an online virtual world with a 3D client. Similar to Second Life, the world consists of several islands upon which users can explore and socialize. Users can create items using several provided tools (StyleMaker, Painter ToolKit and Builder ToolKit) though it takes time and costs money to have these placed in the world (through a submissions process) though from that point on users are able to sell these items freely to other players, receiving ‘Therebucks’ in return — which can be exchanged for US dollars in the world’s banks.”

I have forgotten to mention basically all of the interviews I’ve performed for Worlds In Motion, for some reason. So here they are:

Q&A: Marc Theermann On Weblin’s Virtual World Future
Q&A: Abandon Interactive Entertainment’s Ottilie Talks Freaky Creatures
Q&A: virtuMedia’s Jankowski On Polish MMO Timik.pl
Q&A: FlowPlay’s Morton Talks ourWorld Online Environment

Hmm, less than I thought – Well, that’s all the ones I remember, anyway!

“The surprise announcement of the impending merger of Activision and Vivendi Games that was announced in December 2007 caused shockwaves throughout the industry that are still being felt now, in mid-2008, as the deal rolls towards completion.

In this in-depth investigation, Gamasutra will be summarizing the details of the merger and look at their moves since the announcement, with commentary from some of the industry’s most respected authorities in their field, including Wedbush Morgan’s Michael Pachter and game attorney Thomas H. Buscaglia.”

A big feature on the biggest news story in the industry, that does a pretty good job summarizing the developments up to this point (if I don’t say so myself!) and has some really nice commentary. Worth a read if you’re into that sort of stuff.

“Gaia Online’s community originally solidified around its forums, and the majority of Gaia Online users still spend most of their time there. However, the site has a massive range of other community options, with customizable avatars and home pages, an online world with towns full of user-owned homes that are just as customizable as the avatars, and games to play (with or against other members of the community).”

I didn’t much like Gaia Online! So I haven’t been trying too many MMOs I do like as part of the atlas, sadly. The main problems with Gaia Online are the interface and the fact it’s incredibly slow and glitchy. Pretty insurmountable problems – maybe it’ll improve, maybe not.

“WeeWorld has elements of both social worlds and social networks, with the player’s homepage similar to MySpace or Facebook, but also featuring a room for the player’s avatar, which the player can decorate with objects. Players can take their WeeMee into the WeeWorld and visit locations (largely to chat with other users) or can interact with other users socially via other methods (forums, messaging, etc.) and can also play a variety of games — most of which star the player’s WeeMee.”

I have a WeeMee as a result of this article (you can visit him here, if you so wish) but I don’t think I’ll be checking on him that regularly. Unless I finally get around to signing up for Facebook and all that jazz (and thus intergrate my WeeMee into my social networking… for whatever reason).

“Mabinogi is (for the most part) a classic MMORPG, with players exploring dungeons, defeating monsters and purchasing weapons and armor. However, the title is also advertised as a way to ‘live your fantasy life’ and diverges from many other MMORPGs by not featuring a class system. Players can level up in any skills, which include ‘life skills’ such as fishing, cooking and playing instruments, and also age. Players are encouraged to go to school/take jobs, and to socialize by hanging out with other players around campfires.”

As I say in the piece, I don’t have a huge amount of interest in continuing to play Mabinogi. It’s still kind of an interesting world, though, and the first Korean MMO that I’ve spent a significant amount of time with, so there’s that!

“In Dizzywood, players can create, customize and name a character to explore an enchanted wood.

Players can co-operate with others to solve the mysteries of the wood, and can earn rewards, such as items, achievement badges, e-motes and powers for successful completion of events, or they can just relax, chat with friends, take part in games, and explore.”

Another location filled in the atlas!

“In Moshi Monsters, users “adopt” one monster from a range of six species to care for. Users are placed in charge of ensuring the monster remains happy and fed by purchasing goods from the local town (either food or furniture and items to decorate their monster’s home) and raises money to purchase these items by taking part in daily Brain Age style puzzles. Players can also play some games in town for fun, plus interact with other users by visiting their monsters’ homes and leaving messages on their pinboards — specifically those that have been designated as “friends” by players who know each other’s usernames.”

I’m filling in Worlds In Motion’s Online World Atlas now, which is a fun little gig exploring virtual worlds and then saying what I think of them. First up was this – a cute, very Pete Folwery monster raising MMO that I rather liked. Do pop by and say hello to my monster, Shibito!

“I was kind of interested in BioShock, especially because you explore the illusion of choice within games as the metastory. It’s over and above that. One of the things that interests me is that there’s a point where you realize that’s what’s happened, but after that, you’re not actually given any choice! Could you talk about that part?”

Yay! The excellent interview I helped Christian Nutt with is now up on Gamasutra. Exciting if you like the idea of reading a very literal transcription of me spending more time talking to Ken Levine about how Cloverfield sucks than anything else (although, admittedly, there’s a point to it.)

“Gamevil’s James Song gave the audience at GDC Mobile a ‘glimpse into the future’ by examining case studies between Korean and US cultural phenomena, relating them to the future of mobile gaming and its business models.

He argued that a shift away from branded games towards original content would come in time for the US market.”

Last of my GDC Mobile session coverage!

You can also check out:

Best of GDC Mobile 2008: The Rise Of The Widget?

Best Of GDC Mobile 2008: Why Publishing Good Mobile Games Isn’t Easy – Glu Mobile’s Jill Braff moans about how hard it is to be a publisher. Boo hoo.

Best Of GDC Mobile 2008: Kicking Tires On The Ad Wagon

Best of GDC Mobile 2008: Mobile Social Entertainment: The Next Big Thing from Japan – A great talk on the popularity of small Flash Lite games on mobile social networks in Japan. It’ll never take off here because carriers are too lazy/stupid to put Flash Lite on handsets (there’s also their insane data costs, can’t forget them) but it sounds brilliant.

Best Of GDC Mobile 2008: Dredge On Journalists’ Loves And Hates – Stuart Dredge helped me judge games during IGF Mobile, and this was a cute talk on what game reviewers love and hate, specifically when it came to mobile games. It’s interesting, but rather a difficult sell to get developers and publishers to care about what reviewers think when they (primarily) have to care about what the carriers think just to sell their game in the first place.